US President Barack Obama on Friday nominated Senator John Kerry as the next secretary of state to replace Hillary Clinton, who is due to step down from the post.
The nomination of the Massachusetts senator came days after the US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice withdrew her nomination in the face of opposition from the Republican Party over her statements following the attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi on September 11 this year.
Kerry was born on December 11, 1943. He served in the Vietnam War, but on his return, opposed it and testified in the Senate on the subject.
He was elected to the Senate in 1984, and is currently serving his fifth term.
In 2004, Kerry ran for president in the US elections, but was defeated by Republican Party candidate George W Bush.
He currently serves at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the co-author of the Kerry-Lugar-Berman bill – which authorises US assistance to Pakistan to the tune of $1.5 billion over five years.
Kerry has visited Pakistan during the floods of 2010, and then again in 2011 during the Raymond Davis affair, to press for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) contractor’s release. He is viewed as a friend to Pakistan by many, and enjoys good relations with Pakistani diplomats in Washington, DC.
His nomination will have to be approved by the Senate before he can assume office.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 22nd, 2012.
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